intu Merry Hill has joined forces with sight loss charity Beacon to improve the visual impaired (VI) communities shopping experience. The new scheme is being highlighted at intu Merry Hill, Dudley, during National Eye Health Week (23-29 September). The programme is designed to support those living with sight loss, with a trained individual, who will help them through their shopping session.

Lisa Cowley, Beacon CEO, said: “Shopping with a disability can be challenging, but imagine guiding yourself and trying to understand what you are looking at and if it suits your needs. This scheme will work alongside intu Merry Hill and will be bespoke to every shopper. We want to support people living with sight loss to achieve their goals and live more independently – using National Eye Health Week to help highlight this scheme.”

The shopping guide will be DBS checked, trained and will be based around the individual shoppers needs.

Louise Connop, who lives with sight loss, added: “I live with sight loss and struggle when shopping. I often ask multiple people for support in different shops which means it can be a struggle to find people who understand my needs and guide me.

“VI shopping support is a huge help. Knowing I am being supported by a charity that understand my needs and sight loss is very reassuring. It means I no longer fear shopping but instead look forward to it. It is also the sight loss communities’ chance to shine a light on National Eye Health Week and what we can achieve and not what we can’t.”

The team at intu Merry Hill are constantly working on improving the centre’s accessibility in order to create the best shopping experience possible and very much look forward to partnering with Beacon to offer this service.

If you would like to book a session or find out more, please contact: enquiries@beaconvision.org